At least 66 journalists have been killed this year, says Reporters Without Borders, adding that the murders are becoming increasingly barbaric. Syria, Palestine, Ukraine, Iraq and Libya have been named the deadliest countries for reporters.

“The murders are
becoming more and more barbaric and the number of abductions is
growing rapidly, with those carrying them out seeking to prevent
independent news coverage and deter scrutiny by the outside
world,”saysa
newly released report by Reporters Without Borders (RWB).

The annual report includes data for professional and citizen
journalists who were killed in connection with their reporting.

The report lists the five deadliest countries for journalists:
Syria (15 deaths), Palestine (7), Ukraine (6), Iraq (4) and Libya
(4). This year’s total brings the number of journalists killed
over the last decade to 720.

According to the paper, the beheadings of US and Iraqi
journalists by Islamic State militants in 2014 “testified to
the scale of the violence that can be used against unwanted
witnesses.”

“Rarely have reporters been murdered with such a barbaric
sense of propaganda, shocking the entire world.”

Also, the watchdog says that a total of 119 journalists were
kidnapped this year, “an increase of more than 30 percent on
last year’s figure.” Forty journalists are currently being
held hostage.

The report states that many journalists were also kidnapped in
Ukraine, “mainly in the east of the country, where the
conflict continued despite the ceasefire announced there in
September.”

Conflict-torn Ukraine has become the worst country for
journalists’ abductions, murders and attacks.

Detailing the five most dangerous areas for journalists, the
report said that in the territory controlled by Islamic State (in
Iraq and Syria) “journalists are closely monitored and often
hunted down, kidnapped and killed.”

The ISIS-controlled countries are followed by eastern Libya,
Balochistan province in Pakistan and Department of Antioquia
(Colombia).

The Donetsk and Lugansk regions of eastern Ukraine are also among
the five top most dangerous places for journalists. RWB says that
the “most exposed” are local journalists, who are
“threatened, censored and liable to have their offices
ransacked.”

Ukraine tops the list of the countries where most of journalists
were arrested this year (47). It was followed by Egypt (46), Iran
and Nepal (both 45).

“In Ukraine, both government forces and separatist rebels
operate checkpoints in combat zones at which journalists may be
detained and taken away in a heavy-handed manner and then freed a
few hours later without any explanation being given for their
arrest.”

All in all, at least 853 professional journalists were arrested
in 2014 – a 3 percent increase on 2013.

“Arrests of journalists are obviously not such grave
violations of freedom of information as murders or prolonged
abduction, but they obstruct the media’s work and often
constitute a form of intimidation, which is unacceptable.”